KUWAIT CITY, Feb 27: Iran would like the United States and Russia to abolish their nuclear weapons as they were a threat to Middle Eastern stability, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday.

The Iranian leader made a brief trip to Kuwait on Monday, the first visit by an Iranian head of state to Kuwait since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and held talks with the new emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah.

Speaking to reporters before heading home, Ahmadinejad did not mention the announcement on Sunday of plans for joint Russian-Iranian uranium enrichment project on Russian soil. The agreement in principle was seen as a breakthrough in talks aimed at easing concerns that Iran wants to build nuclear weapons.

Asked about calls from US and Arab states, including Kuwait, for the Middle East to become a nuclear-free zone, the president said: “We too demand that the Middle East be free of nuclear weapons, not only the Middle East, but the whole world should be free of nuclear weapons.

“We believe that these weapons, possessed by the superpowers and the occupiers in our area, are a threat to stability,” Ahmadinejad added. His comment appeared to be also aimed at Britain, a nuclear power that has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, which border Iran.

The Iranian leader left Kuwait before the arrival of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on a brief visit. Mubarak met the emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, at the airport to discuss topics on the agenda of the Arab summit scheduled for next month in Khartoum, Sudan.

Mubarak’s spokesman, Suleiman Awad, told reporters the Russian-Iranian plans “were a middle-of-the-road solution that paves the way for resolving this crisis.”

Tehran’s agreement with Russia could deflect any move by the UN nuclear watchdog agency at a March 6 meeting to recommend that the UN Security Council consider action on Iran.

Arab countries in the Gulf, including Kuwait, are concerned that any nuclear accident in Iran, across the Gulf, could have devastating effects on them. They also are worried about regional arms races.

Kuwait’s foreign minister, Sheik Mohammed Al Sabah, said talks with the Iranian president concentrated on “our hopes that the issue is resolved peacefully” and that Tehran deals with it “wisely.”

They have urged dialogue in Tehran’s standoff with the West over its nuclear power.

The West, especially the United States, suspects that Iran has ambitions to produce nuclear weapons but Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy reasons only.—AP